


Introductions

by lettersfromnowhere



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Parenthood, Steambabies - Freeform, fluff with a side of introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24768835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lettersfromnowhere/pseuds/lettersfromnowhere
Summary: It's never too early to start networking when one's going to inherit the Fire Nation throne one day.(Or: the Gaang meets Zuko and Katara's first child.)
Relationships: Katara & The Gaang (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 258





	Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in the same continuity as "go to the ends of the earth for you," aka the pregnancy oneshot. You don't have to read that first by any means, but it might add a layer of depth if you did. It's also got almost no Zuko in it, because I realized that I pretty much only ever write from Zuko's POV and wanted to stretch my Katara-writing muscles. 
> 
> Also, about the kids. One of the harder things about writing this was deciding if I should keep Izumi even when I depicted her as Mai's daughter, not Katara's, in "I'll write you a tragedy," or make up some OC steambabies. And since I love and cherish(tm) the Izumi I created in that story too much to change anything about her, OC steambabies it was! So let me explain that. This one focuses on their oldest daughter, Crown Princess Kaori. If I ever write more in this 'verse I'd also introduce their other two children, Ai Lan and Kenji. So yeah. Them's my OCs.

**i.**

"I'm the fun uncle," Sokka introduces himself, bouncing the bundle in his arms with a little too much enthusiasm. His eyes feel curiously damp. "Y'know, the one who lets you get away with stuff." 

"Sokka." Katara crosses her arms, fixing her older brother with a weighty glare from the bed. She may be exhausted, but she's nowhere near tired enough not to put Sokka in his place. "What does it tell you that my daughter is _two weeks old_ and you're already a terrible influence?" 

"That I'm great at this whole 'fun uncle' gig," he says with a grin that fails completely at convincing Katara that he isn't about to cry. 

"Good luck with that." She's not going to draw attention to Sokka's obvious use of humor to mask deeper feelings if he isn't. "But admit it. I made a _beautiful_ kid." 

Now it's Katara's turn to bite her lip, and a quick glance shows her that Sokka is just as overwhelmed by the knowledge that the sister who's been acting as a mother for so long really _is_ one now. "You did," he agrees, and she can tell it took a great deal out of him to admit that. "Her name's Kaori?" 

"Mm-hm." Katara nods with an exaggerated sigh. "Crown Princess Kaori of the Fire Nation. What a title, huh?" 

"You know, I never thought I'd be able to say that my niece was an actual princess," Sokka jokes, rocking Kaori. (He and Suki have two of their own, so it shouldn't surprise Katara that he's good with babies, but it somehow still does. It's odd, seeing the brother who never wanted to grow up acting so fatherly.) 

"Neither did I, but here we are, huh?" Katara smiles softly. "You have your work cut out for you if you think you're going to be the 'fun uncle' to a Princess who's guarded day and night, though."

"Katara, you wound me." Sokka hands Kaori back to his sister with a hurt expression. "Do you really doubt my ability to-" 

"Do me a favor and don't finish that sentence." 

The siblings turn to see Zuko standing in the doorway, contentment and concern fighting for control of his expression. He'd given them a moment to speak in private but had, evidently, returned; Sokka pales. 

"Sokka here thinks he's going to be some sort of shenanigan-enabling 'fun uncle,'" Katara explains, putting quotation marks around the words with her fingers. 

"Mm. Is that so?" Zuko takes a seat on the edge of the bed, careful not to jostle his wife, and Katara hands Kaori to him. "What do you think Suki's going to say about this plan?" 

Sokka shrugs. "Probably that I'm an idiot," he concludes. "But can you _blame_ me? The kid needs to have fun once in a while!" 

Kaori looks up at her father and smiles as if on cue, and Zuko feels his heart skip a few beats, because it still hasn't sank in that he and his favorite person in the known universe _made a person_ and he already loves her more than he ever thought possible. "We'll see," is all he can think to say, and it comes out hushed, distracted. 

"Yeah, we'll _see_ that I'm gonna make sure that kid has fun sometimes." Sokka's come a long way, Katara knows, but reading the room is still not one of his strengths. Katara glares at him, albeit gently, as she turns to her husband and daughter, her signal clear: _Sokka, not the time._

He nods, sparing one last tiny smile for his sister and the niece who (Katara can tell) already has him wrapped around her finger, and gives them the room.

* * *

**ii.**

"I _told_ you that you two were gonna have cute babies," Suki teases, elbowing Katara's side with her free arm. Katara crosses her arms. 

"Seriously? You're looking at the future Fire Lord and your first thought is-" 

"It was definitely yours too!" Suki protests with a knowing smirk, and Katara rolls her eyes fondly in acquiescence. 

"We _do,"_ Katara admits, rocking Kaori. "Did you want to-" 

_"Yes!"_ Suki's eyes light up as she cuts Katara off in her enthusiasm, picking up Kaori and cradling her with the same gentleness she's afforded her own two children over the years. Kaori's blue eyes flick open and shut a few times before she begins to cry and an exhausted expression that Suki knows all too well crosses her sister-in-law's face. Even after the baby calms, the harried expression doesn't leave; the change in her mood is a little less temporary than that. 

"Were you scared?" she asks, her voice small. "When your kids were babies, I mean?"

Suki hands Kaori back to her and nods. Her sons are three and four now, but she remembers the uncertainty of their infancies vividly. "We all are," she says, sitting on the edge of Katara's bed and taking her hand. She gives it a comforting squeeze. "No one knows what they're doing." 

"Yeah, but most new parents don't have a child who's likely to be targeted by assassins," Katara says miserably. "How am I supposed to live with that? Knowing that no amount of protection is ever really enough for her?" 

Suki's at a loss for words, because she can't imagine how she'd react if one of her boys was in the kind of danger that the Fire Nation's royal family faces every single day. She just squeezes Katara's hand, which she hasn't been able to bring herself to let go of. 

"I guess you just have to know you're doing everything you can to keep her safe," Suki finally replies. It's not a satisfying answer, but it's the best one she has. 

Maybe it's the best one anyone _could_ have. 

* * *

**iii.**

"She's a baby, Toph, not a bomb. Here." Katara sets two-month-old Kaori in her friend's arms, which immediately tense. 

"Sure, give the only heir to the blind lady. Seems like a _great_ idea," Toph deadpans, awkwardly shifting Kaori to find a more comfortable position. She laughs, reaching for a stray strand of Toph's hair; she startles when she feels the baby pull on it. Her discomfort is entirely evident on her face and in her stance, stiff and awkward and unsure. "I don't think she likes me." 

"Actually, I think that means she _does,"_ Katara says fondly, watching her daughter light up in the presence of the formidable Earthbender. Most know enough to give Toph a wide berth, but Kaori seems fascinated. Toph isn't sure what to make of this, the result of a trip she's spent the entirety of the two months since Kaori's birth anticipating and dreading in equal measure. She misses her friends, that much is undeniable, and she really is happy for Zuko and Katara - truly. They make each other happy, and this kid of theirs seems to be compounding that affect. It's great - for _them,_ though. Toph's not so sure what to think of her first meeting with her friends' firstborn but she's leaning more towards 'out of her depth' than anything. 

Maybe it's _because_ people rarely approach her, but babies scare her. Their trust, their comfort in the presence of total strangers - it freaks her out. And this one, which, if Katara is right, has taken a liking to her, freaks her out even _more._ This is the _heir to the throne_ she's holding, and everyone knows they'll probably have more kids - for practical reasons, yes, but one only has to notice how Zuko and Katara's heartbeats _still_ go through the roof around the other to know that it's not just a pragmatic choice - but they don't yet. There's no backup plan for now and she can't even _see_ and that's not even getting into her deeply-ingrained lack of trust in people who trust everyone. But Kaori settles in her arms eventually, and Katara comments that she's a natural, and Toph begins to think that maybe this kid isn't so bad after all. She smells comforting, and her weight in Toph's arms is solid but not overwhelming. 

Toph Beifong's not a baby person, but she's okay with this one.

She's never seen the point of talking to babies when they can't respond, but this time she tries anyway. "You're gonna be the Fire Lord, huh?" she asks the bundle. It doesn't respond, predictably, but its mother does. 

"I can only hope she'll..." Katara trails off, searching for words. "Have the stomach for it." 

"What, ruling?"

"Yeah." Katara sighs. "It takes a lot out of a person." 

"She's your kid, 'Tara," Toph points out. "She's probably gonna eat insurrectionists for breakfast." 

"She's also Zuko's," Katara points out, laughing nonetheless. 

"Yeah, but the insurrection-eating is your job." Toph grins. "And hers. And she's gonna do good."

It feels a little odd to say that with confidence, but she knows she's right. 

* * *

**iv.**

"She has your eyes." 

Aang looks a little bit shocked as Kaori stares up at him, her expression as blank as a baby's can be. (It's odd. Kaori's usually so expressive - Katara chalks it up to some sort of calming effect.) Because he _knows_ this is Katara's daughter, and by all means Kaori _should_ resemble her mother, but seeing the features of his dearest friend and onetime love reflected in the Princess' face is still jarring. 

Three months ago, when Katara wrote him to inform him that the Fire Nation's new heir had made her grand entrance into their lives, she'd not mentioned that their baby had blue eyes. He wonders why - it seems an important detail to omit. 

"She does," Katara agrees. "It's about the only part of me she _did_ get." 

"You told me yourself she's as stubborn as you are," Aang replies, because he specifically remembers a follow-up letter containing a line about how stubbornly the infant Princess refuses to comply with anything anyone would have her do. He's not seeing it now - Kaori is perfectly tranquil and almost entirely still in his arms - but knowing of her lineage, he has no cause to doubt that it'd be true under other circumstances.

"Well, yes, but I'm pretty sure she got that from both sides," Katara sighs, leaning back against the wall. It's a lovely day - early June, every flower in bloom - but she doesn't take much notice. "That's one thing she could've done without." 

"She wouldn't be your daughter or Zuko's without it," Aang points out, which makes Katara laugh. He's glad of the distraction from his last sentence, the reminder of this child's identity that never stops sticking in his throat no matter how hard he tries not to let it. 

(He truly could not be happier for his friends who've managed to bring each other such joy; his bitter sentiments are behind him now. He can be confident of that: he would do anything for his two best friends - and their daughter, by default, and because it's hard not to be softened by her sweetness. But as hard as he tries to push it down, he wonders if perhaps he'll always be a little bit saddened by the sight of this girl whose eyes are Katara's blue and whose face is unmistakably Zuko's. It's something Aang knows he must live with and he's more than willing, but it's hard in this moment.) 

"Maybe you're right." Katara peers over at Kaori, a tiny smile forming on a face drawn with the lack of sleep she's had lately. "But it'd be nice to get some sleep." 

Aang doesn't respond to that, because what would he say? But he nods in understanding, shifting Kaori's weight in his arms. She smiles up at him, wholly trustful, wholly unaware that she's looking at a man who traitorously wishes he were her father, as if to extend an olive branch that no one knew was still needed. He extends his free hand towards her and lets the Princess wrap her hand around his finger, marveling at how _small_ everything about her is, and at the acceptance she so easily extends him. 

He decides he believes that things turned out how they should have. 


End file.
